Come With Me - Meliodas x Reader

Chapter 76 - Rampaging Love

So peaceful. The yellow grass. The blue sky. The birds that flew overhead. Estarossa sat and stared at it all and yet, for some reason, there was unrest in his heart.

'What are you doing out here all alone?' said a kind voice and Estarossa turned the see the face of one of his favourite people in the world.

'Hey, Elizabeth.'

Her smile was soft as she sat beside him. 'Did you have another fight with your big brother?'

Estarossa turned his face away from her. 'Not this time. It's the others.' He focussed hard on the horizon to force back the tears in his eyes and the lump in his throat. 'They said I'm nothing but a big coward who couldn't even kill a bug.'

'Is that what's bothering you?' Elizabeth nudged his shoulder with hers.

'No.' Estarossa shifted slightly but not away. 'It's just that ... I feel like I'm bringing shame to my brother.'

Elizabeth made a strange sound almost like a dog bark. Estarossa stared at her, but Elizabeth was turning away, her smile now wider and more excited. Before he could ask what was happening, a small hairy something leapt into Elizabeth's arms and Estarossa saw that it was, in fact, a dog.

The dog stared at Elizabeth with adoring eyes. Its fur was white except for its brown ears. Estarossa watched with an ugly feeling squeezing his heart as Elizabeth returned the dog's adoring look with her own.

'What's the deal with him?'

Elizabeth laughed as the dog licked her cheek. 'When I found him, he was hurt and couldn't move.' After what felt like an eternity, Elizabeth turned her attention back to Estarossa. 'Forget them. You just stay the way you are.'

Estarossa pressed his lips tight together, folded his arms and looked away from Elizabeth. 'I have to become strong. If this peace ends ... if another war begins ...' He turned back to face her. 'You are proof, Elizabeth. Of Goddess and Demon powers coexisting. If you would just tell me how ...'

But Estarossa let his voice trail off. There was no way she'd tell him. The whole time he'd known Elizabeth, she had been shrouded in mystery. Speaking often of her parents but never saying who they were. Possessing both Demon and Goddess powers. It annoyed him but Estarossa liked Elizabeth too much to pry too hard. He didn't want to lose her.

Estarossa looked at the corpse of the Goddess. He was panting hard, every breath stinging the back of his throat. But he was the one still standing. And that made his heart warm.

'Nice work,' said Meliodas, a dark smile evident in his voice. 'Just what I'd expect of my kid brother.'

'So do you think that I'll ever get to be like you one day?' Estarossa tried to hide the desperation in his voice.

'I absolutely guarantee it.'

So Estarossa spent his years training for a war that seemed increasingly unlikely to happen. No matter what his brother insisted. But Estarossa had long since learned to not ask questions of whys and what ifs. He just killed Goddess after Goddess until they all blurred together in his mind. And he never spoke of it to Elizabeth.

She was his safe space. His proof that the peace treaty was still intact despite his brother's actions.

And so Estarossa went to Elizabeth every time he couldn't wash the blood from his hands or couldn't stop the screams from echoing. He went to her with injuries and bitterness and she never turned him away.

Until that day.

When he learned the truth.

And everything changed.